Pages

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Clash of Cultures: Eating the top of the banana

In the spirit of pointing out completely banal cultural differences I have to ask this question:

Do you eat the top of the banana? You know the part at the very tip where you opened the banana, right under the skin at the very top? That part? Yeah. Do you eat that part? Is this a Polish thing? Is this just his family? Is this one of those things I never knew about and my parents have been putting my life in danger by not teaching me?

Here is what happens in our family. See if you can relate.

Martin offers the children a banana. They all, of course, want a banana. Except Lina who doesn't like bananas. He opens the banana, bites off the tip of the top part, spits it into the trashcan, and gives the rest to the children.

Is this you?
Do you do this?
Ask yourself: "Is this normal?" "Is this necessary?"
If the answer is yes to either of these questions, ask yourself "Why?"
If you don't have an answer to that question then "google it."
Here are some possible keywords/search terms:

"why do some people bite off the end of the banana?"
"is there something wrong with the end of the banana?"
"my husband is paranoid and thinks the end of the banana is dangerous if eaten, is he the only one?"
"are European bananas poisonous?"
"is there such a thing as an "European banana"?"
"if there is no such thing as an "European banana" then can Europeans be experts at bananas?"
"if Europeans are not experts at bananas is it possible that they have been taught misconceptions, even, shall we say, lies, about bananas?"
"am I more right than my husband?"

Today he was training the boys on the proper way to do this now that they are old enough to spit out their own banana tips.

First of all, I guarantee you that all of these questions have been asked by some on a Yahoo answer forum somewhere, have you ever read those questions people ask the WWW?!!? (gems such as, "do sheep shrink in the rain?" and " what should I do to be less crazy?") Pretty crazy. But I'm not sure it's as crazy as a grown man insisting that he, and I, and our children, for ever more, bite the end off the banana and spit it into the trash can rather than swallow it. Ahh, the things we do to keep harmony in the home.
I just don't know sometimes.

and now... enjoy this video... a blast from the past... involving ... completely healthy and safe, from toe to tip... bananas...

Update on the hair and such and a frivolous book rec..... I apologize to all of my gentleman readers who may have no interest in hair and skin care, I can't please all the people all the time. ;)

The hair: I gave up after two weeks. My son was having his birthday party and it was just too much to bare (bear? they both work). The oil from my hair was all over my pillow which I failed to recognize until abut 3-4 days in when my face began to break out horribly in some of the worst acne I have seen in years. I say to Martin, "I just figured it was natural hair oil, it's natural so it shouldn't hurt my face?! wahhhh" And he replies, "well, acne is natural too... you big hippie!" Ugh. So, I ditched that whole thing real quick. I am now only shampooing every other day and then perhaps down to every three days, in an attempt to just cut back on all chemicals and what not in the hair and on the body.

As to chemicals. A couple weeks ago I added a new book to my Kindle (my one electronic splurge other than this laptop...I love it!) called "Babushka's Beauty Secrets." (completely coincidental that the woman is European, I swear I am not a one issue woman, despite what my blog may imply!) Basically just all natural ingredients from around the home for various hair and skin and overall body care. I like it because she basically gives you the recipes for natural skin moisturizers, lip gloss, face masks, etc. from items found in your own kitchen. I have used only the egg whites for a face mask and it worked wonderfully. I will be using some of the lip moisturizing recipes next and want to try and make my own scented lotion since the really nice scented lotion is so expensive. And I have done the oil extraction method on my face which I also liked (not from the book but suggested by a friend). The raw honey bit didn't work for me but I like the idea of using natural oils on my skin. All of these ideas can be found on the internet I'm sure, for free, but I wouldn't know where to start, and I don't like looking at a computer screen to read. It hurts my brain.

I figure, if I can memorize some of these natural methods of body care, use them, and they work, then I can go just about anywhere in the world and manage to keep looking my age, and save tons of money in the process...have you seen how much one bottle of Oil of Olay face wash is at the store? I'll feel like a fool if I don't try the natural path first. It has worked so well in other areas of my life, I just can't stop here. I don't know why. It's just the way I am. ;)

25 comments:

:) funny that you mention the banana thing, I totally don't eat the end of the banana! But I usually cut it off vs bite it off :) I guess it is a Polish thing, my mom taught me to do that since I was little lol and now I cannot eat a banana with the end on it, even if it is just psychological!

I agree with Evita. I always bite or slice the tip off. Everyone in my family does so. I've heard that you can actually get poisoned and end up in hospital if you are not cautious. Perhaps it's just a widespread social myth, or maybe not... Who knows?

These comments are the best! I am simultaneously vindicated and more perplexed. Martin also believes that you can become sick from the end of the banana. I have never heard of this, ever, until I met him... the world may never know...

i am a bit perplexed.... yes, Poles do not eat the end of the banana, but it is the OTHER end than the one your mentioned that your husband removes. it is not the place where you start to peel it, which was where it hung from the stalk. but the flower end.... the part that has a small dark little "stick" in it that was part of the banana bloom. presumably -- i think the thinking goes -- that bloom section was open to insect pollinators, and maybe the insects were carrying something, especially a protozoan named giardia lamblia. which can cause a nasty infection to some people. now comes the question, why don't the Brits or Americans have the same banana caution? the only idea i can come up with is countries have different sources for banana importing. if the bananas came from, like, some less well-monitored, poorer part of Africa... i had been guilty of being dismissive, i must admit. but then the years went by, and it turns out to have some basis in fact. live & learn. now i too do not eat the bloom end. why take chances? it is such a small part to lose... :-)

i am a bit perplexed.... yes, Poles do not eat the end of the banana, but it is the OTHER end than the one your mentioned that your husband removes. it is not the place where you start to peel it, which was where it hung from the stalk. but the flower end.... the part that has a small dark little "stick" in it that was part of the banana bloom. presumably -- i think the thinking goes -- that bloom section was open to insect pollinators, and maybe the insects were carrying something, especially a protozoan named giardia lamblia. which can cause a nasty infection to some people. now comes the question, why don't the Brits or Americans have the same banana caution? the only idea i can come up with is countries have different sources for banana importing. if the bananas came from, like, some less well-monitored, poorer part of Africa... i had been guilty of being dismissive, i must admit. but then the years went by, and it turns out to have some basis in fact. live & learn. now i too do not eat the bloom end. why take chances? it is such a small part to lose... :-)

Oh my gosh. I have ALWAYS eaten every bit of the banana as have my children and NO ONE has had any banana related illness whatsoever. And I'm a quarter Polish! This is cracking me up. Can you imagine the amount of banana that has gone to waste because someone decided you had to cut off the tip??? So funny.... :)

We read this too! :) I found these articles to say that the bacteria is actually in the end of the banana so for tall these years he has really been spitting out the wrong end. And that the bacteria is found in other fruit as well... So maybe, just for good measure we should all just spit out our first bite of whatever fruit we eat... agreed? Good! ;)

Ok, I'm also Polish I was taught to remove the banana end. I usually do one of two things: 1) either break the top off in such a way that the top part of the banana stays in the peel tip, and I toss it with the peel (or use a knife), or 2) start eating the banana from the other end and leave it partially uneaten when I get to the end with the black tip. I don't know that I believe in the getting sick part, but I don't like eating the stringy banana end because it has weird texture. My husband also doesn't eat the banana tip even though he's been born and raised in the US.

I just came across your blog and still laughing, as the banana thing came-up few days ago when I tried to explain to my kids why we shouldn't eat the ends while I was biting it off and spitting it in the garbage. I didn't have an answer and I caught myself thinking that there was something odd about the whole concept. So yeah, here I am googling it, LOL, thank for writing this:) By the way, I recently published my memoires from my Polish childhood: Vague Memories. Nostalgic, non-banana moments.

Totally unrelated, yet related -- we just returned from Poland, and my cousin's daughter (who is 27) informed us that Poles only eat "first class bananas"...and whilst I had the "are you stupid" look on my face, she told us that "first class bananas" are straight, and 2nd class bananas are curved...which makes Poles a higher class than the rest of the world.

No joke -- these were her words to us, as I busted out laughing, I told her that it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard...

To your story, I never really paid attention to the top of the banana...but we don't eat the very end of the banana, and we are from Michigan and Ohio --